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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #365251
Title: Eating behavior and weight gain during pregnancy

Author
item TANG, XUYANG - University Of Tennessee
item ANDRES, ALINE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item WEST, DELIA - Medical University Of South Carolina
item LOU, XIANGYANG - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item KRUKOWSKI, REBECCA - University Of Tennessee

Submitted to: Eating Behaviors
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/13/2020
Publication Date: 1/21/2020
Citation: Tang, X., Andres, A., West, D., Lou, X., Krukowski, R. 2020. Eating behavior and weight gain during pregnancy. Eating Behaviors. 36: 101364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101364.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101364

Interpretive Summary: Little is known about the relationship between eating behavior and weight gain during pregnancy. This is important because excessive gestational weight gain is associated with adverse pregnancy, delivery and postnatal outcomes. Of importance, excessive gestational weight gain leads to higher weight retention post-partum. We assessed the relationship between eating behaviors (i.e., Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire measures of restraint, disinhibition and hunger) and excessive GWG (i.e., weight change from less than 10 weeks through 36 weeks gestation) as defined by the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2009 guidelines. Although disinhibited eating patterns had a significant relationship with excessive GWG, the significance of this relationship was not sustained after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and baseline BMI categories. Future studies examining behavioral predictors of excessive GWG may need to focus on other plausible behaviors or characteristics.

Technical Abstract: Little is known about the relationship between eating behavior and weight gain during pregnancy. Our objective was to assess the relationship between self-reported cognitive restraint, disinhibition and hunger and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) as defined by the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2009 guidelines. Based on previous research examining eating behaviors and weight gain in non-pregnant women, we hypothesized that excessive GWG is related to higher cognitive restraint, higher disinhibition and higher perception of hunger. 190 pregnant women from the Glowing study completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) at the enrollment visit, which included subscales assessing restraint, disinhibition and hunger. Participants' height and weight from less than 10 weeks through 36 weeks gestation were measured, allowing classification within or in excess of the IOM guidelines adjusted for the week of the final measurement. The odds that a participant would gain weight above IOM recommendations was 1.2 times higher (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.05 – 1.29) for each one-unit addition on the disinhibition subscale in the unadjusted logistic regression. However, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and baseline BMI categories, participants' TFEQ scores were not associated with changes in the likelihood of having GWG above IOM guidelines. Eating behaviors were modestly correlated with baseline BMI categories (|r| < 0.50 with a p value of <0.001 to 0.619). Although disinhibition scores had a significant relationship with excessive GWG, the significance of this relationship was not sustained after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and baseline BMI categories.